excuse-me
noun
a dance in which a person may take another's partner
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excuse-me
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excuse me
excuse me
Also, I beg your pardon, pardon me . Forgive me, as in Excuse me, please let me pass , or Pardon me for asking , or I beg your pardon, I don't think so . These phrases are used as an apology for interrupting a conversation, bumping into someone, asking a speaker to repeat something, politely disagreeing with something said, and so on. The first dates from about 1600, the first variant from about 1800, the second from the mid-1700s.
excuse-me
Britishnoun
excuse me
Idioms
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Also, I beg your pardon, pardon me . Forgive me, as in Excuse me, please let me pass , or Pardon me for asking , or I beg your pardon, I don't think so . These phrases are used as an apology for interrupting a conversation, bumping into someone, asking a speaker to repeat something, politely disagreeing with something said, and so on. The first dates from about 1600, the first variant from about 1800, the second from the mid-1700s.
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Also, excuse oneself . Allow or ask to leave or be released from an obligation. For example, Please excuse me, I have to leave now , or I asked the judge to excuse me from jury duty . [1920s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"They have to open up the Strait of Trump -- I mean Hormuz. Excuse me, I'm so sorry. Such a terrible mistake."
From Barron's • Mar. 27, 2026
“By the way, Robert and Xochitl, the chemistry, excuse me? Excuse me? It was so wonderful.”
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 12, 2025
Excuse me while I send a few LinkedIn connection requests to people in South Carolina and New Mexico, which rank first and second.
From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 18, 2025
Excuse me, your mercy, people told her as they passed in a doorway or elevator.
From New York Times • Mar. 2, 2024
"Excuse me," he said, hoping to pacify whoever was sitting beneath the hazel tree, and praying that it was not more of the little people who had stolen his hat.
From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
